Dakota Mace (Diné) is an interdisciplinary artist whose work focuses on translating the language of Diné history and beliefs. Mace received her M.A. and MFA degrees in Photography and Textile Design at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and her BFA in Photography from the Institute of American Indian Arts. As a Diné (Navajo) artist, her work draws from the history of her Diné heritage, exploring the themes of family lineage, community, and identity. In addition, her work pushes the viewer’s understanding of Diné culture through alternative photography techniques, weaving, beadwork, and papermaking.
She has also worked with numerous institutions and programs to develop dialogue on the issues of cultural appropriation and the importance of Indigenous design work. She is currently a grad advisor in painting and drawing at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and the photographer for the Helen Louise Allen Textile Center and the Center of Design and Material Culture.
Her work as an artist and scholar has been exhibited nationally and internationally at various conferences, collectives, museums, and galleries, including: the Textile Society of America, Weave a Real Peace, Indigenous Photograph, The 400 Year Project, the Wright Art Museum, Contemporary Arts Center, the Kemper Museum of Art, and the Wallach Art Gallery.
Presented by The 400 Years Project and Photoville
Indigenous artists Dakota Mace and Tahila Mintz engage alternative photographic processes and use soil, plants, water, and sun directly in the image-making process to tell stories about the past, present, and future of the land — stories that connect them to their ancestors, and to themselves.
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